Cruising with 6 yrs old - with kids club full .. what other activities are recommended?

[DianaMB333]

Hi
When our reservation window opened all the kids activities seemed booked/unavailable... what can we do other than the pool,?
It is their first cruise (2 girls, 6yr old).. sailing on March, 4nts
Thanks!

 

[johnkerryP]

Hi
When our reservation window opened all the kids activities seemed booked/unavailable... what can we do other than the pool,?
It is their first cruise (2 girls, 6yr old).. sailing on March, 4nts
Thanks!

You cant book those until 30 days out, so youll be fine to book soon.

 

[lanejudy]

I believe booking for the Club/Lab is currently done at 30 days prior to embarkation. So you are too early yet.

 

[CrowMomma]

If you are on the Dream, when my son was that age he went bananas for the mid-ship detective agency. It was really interactive, kept him entertained and I got quite a few steps in!

 

[DianaMB333]

Oh… good to know that I didn't miss the window LOL… thanks!

 

[DianaMB333]

If you are on the Dream, when my son was that age he went bananas for the mid-ship detective agency. It was really interactive, kept him entertained and I got quite a few steps in!

Cool, thanks!

 

[lklgoodman]

Mini golf is also a lot of fun. It can get windy if playing on a sea day, saw several hats go flying off heads one time.

 

[GTRARNP]

Anyone who has hit the window to book kids club, can you please share what the choices were? We are sailing in March and I am concerned about them going into the club when I have adults only things booked. We are sailing with friends who have never sailed Disney before, so I am worried this will put a large damper on how we've sold them on double the cost of their previous cruises. :-/ TIA!!

 

[MomOTwins]

Anyone who has hit the window to book kids club, can you please share what the choices were? We are sailing in March and I am concerned about them going into the club when I have adults only things booked. We are sailing with friends who have never sailed Disney before, so I am worried this will put a large damper on how we've sold them on double the cost of their previous cruises. :-/ TIA!!

There are staggered sessions starting every 30 mins or so throughout the day. Sessions are either 1.5 hours or 2.5 hours depending on the day. It is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle getting it to work! In the end, DH and I tried to limit the number of activities that both of us attended together so that we could always have one adult available to stay with the kids if needed. E.g., we booked separate massages on different days instead of a couples massage, separate drink tastings etc. Now with the recent Fantasy example where they had to shut down the kids club for several days on two cruises because of an outbreak, I think that strategy is even more wise.

Another suggestion: if you want to book an adult-only dinner do to the first day (when the club opens mid-afternoon) or a port day when you have an excursion booked. Then on your sea days, book the club for the morning to increase your odds of being able to book an additional session after your first one.

And even when you plan it perfectly, you do have to pack your patience. The one activity I booked for DH and I to attend at the same time was Remy brunch. When I got onboard and received the brunch reminder card at my stateroom, I saw they had moved my brunch time 45 minutes earlier than what I had booked online (presumably due to overbooking or maybe some concierge person wanted our time slot and they bumped us). I had planned the kids club time slot based on the original time. and it was now half an hour after the new brunch time they gave me. I had to go down to guest services to sort it out and eventually a manager was able to get me an override to let my three kids in the club in an earlier session that had an opening for just one kid.

It certainly is not as easy as pre-Covid, but compared with the hoops we had to jump through for other vacations and the top-notch service and experiences we had on the ship we still felt it was worth it. We also kind of liked the family togetherness that came from our kids having to do more stuff with us throughout the day. We did mini-golf, saw a LOT of family game shows, trivia, live music, character shows like "Sarge Says"--there is always something going on.

 

[Lilbunnyk]

We booked the kids club after we were on board when we sailed in October.

 

[PaulJax]

Thanks everyone for the info. I just assumed you could book kids club according to the platinum/gold/silver booking windows. Finding out you have to wait till 30 days out before you can book kids club was eye opening; major cruise benefit was being able to book Palo while kids are in club. Might just have to push cruise back another year.

 

[Colo17]

Christmas cruise on Fantasy had openings starting 30 days prior to sailing all the way up to sailing. NOT available at normal booking window. And lots of ability to reserve a slot while onboard. Even on a very full cruise the Mickey pool seldom had a line. No restrictions in Nemo play area, slides.

 

[GTRARNP]

There are staggered sessions starting every 30 mins or so throughout the day. Sessions are either 1.5 hours or 2.5 hours depending on the day. It is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle getting it to work! In the end, DH and I tried to limit the number of activities that both of us attended together so that we could always have one adult available to stay with the kids if needed. E.g., we booked separate massages on different days instead of a couples massage, separate drink tastings etc. Now with the recent Fantasy example where they had to shut down the kids club for several days on two cruises because of an outbreak, I think that strategy is even more wise.

Another suggestion: if you want to book an adult-only dinner do to the first day (when the club opens mid-afternoon) or a port day when you have an excursion booked. Then on your sea days, book the club for the morning to increase your odds of being able to book an additional session after your first one.

And even when you plan it perfectly, you do have to pack your patience. The one activity I booked for DH and I to attend at the same time was Remy brunch. When I got onboard and received the brunch reminder card at my stateroom, I saw they had moved my brunch time 45 minutes earlier than what I had booked online (presumably due to overbooking or maybe some concierge person wanted our time slot and they bumped us). I had planned the kids club time slot based on the original time. and it was now half an hour after the new brunch time they gave me. I had to go down to guest services to sort it out and eventually a manager was able to get me an override to let my three kids in the club in an earlier session that had an opening for just one kid.

It certainly is not as easy as pre-Covid, but compared with the hoops we had to jump through for other vacations and the top-notch service and experiences we had on the ship we still felt it was worth it. We also kind of liked the family togetherness that came from our kids having to do more stuff with us throughout the day. We did mini-golf, saw a LOT of family game shows, trivia, live music, character shows like "Sarge Says"--there is always something going on.

Thank you for this! I am glad to hear you still thought the $$ was worth it and I hope we feel the same way! Fingers crossed it gets a lot better in the next 60 days with the covid numbers!!

 

[GTRARNP]

Christmas cruise on Fantasy had openings starting 30 days prior to sailing all the way up to sailing. NOT available at normal booking window. And lots of ability to reserve a slot while onboard. Even on a very full cruise the Mickey pool seldom had a line. No restrictions in Nemo play area, slides.

Awesome! Thank you!!

 

[Clojel]

I just wanted to add another note about Mid Ship Detective (available on Dream & Fantasy only) - it is a GREAT way to get used to the layout of the ship. We sailed the first time when DD was 7 and after 1 or 2 rounds of Midship, she totally had a handle on forward/aft and what elevators to take where. It made me a lot more comfortable knowing that she knew how to get places and wouldn't get easily turned around if separated from us for some reason.